Lord of the Castle

I am too far behind…I’m not even going to try to “catch up” so…

We are now officially looking for a house…

I called the realtor who helped us back in September of 2008. I did so a little reluctantly…

Why reluctantly?

I am a hopeful sort of fellow. I continue to naively believe that I will stumble upon some great deal or just happen to meet someone who introduces me to someone who…I think you get the picture.

I AM NOT going to go deeply in debt to buy a house! I am believing for a GREAT deal!

Our realtor went out of her way to inform me that “everyone is looking for a great deal”, “I have an investor that is buying 10 houses in the area” so “the market is very competitive”, don’t get your hopes up, it could possibly happen but let’s be realistic…in our very first conversation!

I was not a happy camper. I think she perceived that when my last five responses consisted of one or two tersely spoken words.

I wasn’t born yesterday! I know all of that!

But, I believe that God has brought me to this city, that He (notice the capitalized MASCULINE pronoun) is putting it into my heart to buy a house, that He has a house prepared for us and that He wants to bless me! So, I am going to look for THAT house with THAT perspective in mind! If I have to settle in the end, I have to settle. But it will be at the end, not at the beginning. If that is the case, why do I need her?

I think you can tell that I am still fired up. In fact, I am going to continue looking on my own independent of her. Well see what happens?

Two years and one week ago, I left Los Angeles and moved to Kansas City. We only knew one family here and even they aren’t really all that close to us. So, I really expected to have to start over in every sense of the word since

But the past keeps walking up and reintroducing itself to me!

Our typical Sunday routine is to go to church and then spend a few hours at The Prayer Room.

About one month ago, while I was walking and praying, a man came up to me and and asked, “Are you the Lord of the Castle?” (Except, he used my real name.)

“Yes.”

It turns out that I led him to Christ when he was a college student at UCLA 23 years ago!

That was the second time that had happened. The first time was one year ago when another man approached me in exactly the same way!

Well, today a third person from my past stepped back into my life.

He drove from Nebraska to Kansas City. His wife has an appointment with a doctor in Missouri tomorrow. He decided to stop by The Prayer Room for a little bit.

It just so happened that I was outside talking on the phone with my son when he walked up and asked, “Are you the Lord of the Castle?” (Except, he used my real name.)

He visited our church in Los Angeles to lead a four  week long outreach during the 1984 Olympics. I knew him for about 4 weeks 26 years ago!

I guess I look pretty much the same after all of these years. That hair goo must really be working miracles!

We ended up going out to eat with him and his family and catching up on 26 years of life during dinner.

I don’t think that this is quite what people mean when they say that good things happen when you pray!

Since tonight was his last night in Kansas, I called my son early in the day to go out to dinner together. I wanted to have a fatherly talk with him.

The evening got off to a pretty rough start. When I got home from work, I discovered that he had only “budgeted” a little over an hour for me. It seems that he had plans for a coffee date with two little chickadees.

Needless to say, that did not make me very happy. Let’s just say that I felt more than a little “undervalued”. By the time we would have arrived at the restaurant and sat down, we would have to leave. So I cancelled…

Then, the two girls cancelled on him!

If he was going to go out, I was his only option. I guess Somebody upstairs wanted him to spend time with me rather than them.

We went to the Bonefish Grill which is about 1/2 mile from our apartment.

I think that if he knew what I was going to talk to him about, he might have cancelled on the girls instead of having them cancel on him. Usually, I go out with him to warn him, admonish him, probe his heart or give him some practical advice. I don’t quite understand why a young man would want that! LOL!

Tonight, I just encouraged him to raise his expectations for his life; that he is bigger than he thinks.

I think he liked it.

We visited our oldest daughter’s church in Dallas for the first time last night.

The assistant pastor opened the service by noting that today was the first day of spring.

As he was speaking, it was snowing!

…nearly horizontally!!

…in Dallas, TX!!!

The last day of winter was 73º. Go figure.

Oh, church was great. All of my daughter’s girl friends nearly squealed with delight when they met my wife. It was fun to watch.

Me…ummm, they definitely did not squeal with delight…

Polite is probably the best word to describe it.

It’s been awhile…

But, what would you rather do…write a blog post or spend time with my wife?

Wait…that didn’t quite come our right… 

I meant to say, if you were me, what would you rather do? 

I chose to spend time with my wife in Texas near Lake Texoma. 

It turns out that our “villa” was a glorified hotel room. But, at $71 per night, it was still a good deal. 

As I frequently report, I learned something that I have a very hard time getting my mind around. 

Lake Texoma is the 12th largest lake in the United States. It was created by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1943 where the Red River and the Washita River converge. Here is an image that will give you some idea of its size. 

Notice the scale at the bottom left…Needless to say, it is a HUGE lake! 

In 2007, the lake flooded for the third time. The bottom floor of the hotel, which is AT LEAST 30 feet above the water line, was flooded! 

Can you imagine how much water that is??? We are not talking about a creek or even a river. We are talking about a lake that is miles and miles long! 

The surface area normally covers 89,000 acres. During the flood, it covered 143,000 acres! Over 50% larger! 

“Wow!”